2014 Royal Enfield Tour of Bhutan

The 2014 edition of the Tour of Bhutan is an epic motorcycle journey; one that every motorcyclist must include in their bucket list. We just ticked it off ours...

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Royal Enfield

pThe 2014 edition of the Tour of Bhutan is an epic motorcycle journey; one that every motorcyclist must include in their bucket list. We just ticked it off ours/p

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pRiders of the 2014 Tour of Bhutan strike a pose before starting the ride/p

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pRiders line up in excitement for the 2014 Royal Enfield Tour of Bhutan to be flagged off/p

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4/31

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pEver since the time I returned from the 2013 Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey (read as ride from Delhi to Leh) I was itching to ride back to the mountains again. Owing to the hectic schedule at office, this desire had to be placed at the back burner. But, then Royal Enfield announced its Tour of Bhutan, and I simply had to be a part of it/p

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pAfter riding in the hustle and bustle of the city, it is a delight to hit some beautiful mountain roads on our way to Mirik, our re-group point. The mountain roads are narrow and it means all the riders are riding consciously/p

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pThe route is one of the most scenic roads I have ever ridden on with tea gardens lined up on both sides we tip the motorcycle from side to side endlessly on this winding road/p

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pBy evening next day, we are at the Indo-Bhutan border and it has been a thrilling ride so far. Also, to actually enter a foreign land on a motorcycle is a first for me. There’s nothing momentous about it on the outside, but there’s a sense of elation inside that I just can’t hide/p

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pAn action shot of the participants during the 2014 Royal Enfield Tour of Bhutan/p

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pInitially I was skeptical, whether the Continental GT was the correct motorcycle for this journey but on this twisting mountain road s to Paro I wouldn’t have wanted any other Royal Enfield for sure/p

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10/31

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pSince Thimpu was just 70 odd kilometers from Paro, most of the riders went on a trek to Taktsang Monastery or the “Tiger’s Nest” as it is popularly known or just/p

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pI chose the option of exploring Paro and started riding around the city. Where I bumped into a few like-minded locals, sipping on some coffee and talking local motorcycle scene/p

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pI also utilised this opportunity to visit a local monastery, which was a calm and soothing place that also offered a terrific aerial view of Paro/p

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pBhutan has a lovely culture and they love art. I visited an art shop and got an opportunity to witness expert painters live in action and was taken aback by their skill and the sheer detailing the paintings posses/p

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pThimpu is Bhutan’s capital city. And, it is quite different from most other cities and towns we passed en route. We had a rest day in Thimpu that gave us an opportunity to shop and explore the town/p

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pFrom our hotel balcony we could see a huge Buddha statue on top of a mountain. We decided to visit the place and over there I found out it is the biggest statue of lord Buddha in Bhutan and measures 169 feet in length and is built at a cost of $47 million or Rs 285 crore/p

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pA group shot of all the participants of 2014 Royal Enfield Tour of Bhutan in Thimpu before we left for Bumathang/p

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pWe left early in the morning as Bumathang was 270km from Paro, but the chill in the air numbed our fingers in no time and slowed us down/p

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pThe roads ahead were supposed to be bad, the first such experience we were to have in Bhutan but all the riders rode through them without much trouble/p

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19/31

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pQuestion in my mind was, whether the GT was the right motorcycle for the trip after all. I am happy to report, over broken road, muddy patches and what have you, The Continental GT worked just fine/p

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20/31

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pOne can easily stand on the bike and ride over broken roads without effort as shown by fellow journo Ouseph/p

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21/31

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pThe following day we reached Tashigang, and now it was time to head back to India, Guwahati to be precise. So far, we had ridden over 1,300km. It was quite fitting than on our final day there’s freshly laid tarmac in front of us. It is like an oasis and everyone just lets loose as they ended the journey on a high/p

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pSome snippets from the trip - Everyday used to start with a morning briefing in which Kyron used to gives us tips on riding and inform us about the various regrouping pointa/p

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pBreaks to click pictures or just to refresh and relax were quite often/p

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pMost of these breaks were used to share antedoes of the journey so far or mostly to crack jokes and unwind/p

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pEvery rider made sure that they gorged on their lip smacking Bhutanese delicacies especially the Pork lovers/p